Express & Star Business Awards 2017 finalists unveiled

An impressive line-up of finalists has been unveiled for this year's Express & Star Business Awards

From FTSE-listed companies such as HomeServe and Marston's to new or micro businesses such as Wealth Design in Cannock and Compare Car Mods in Wolverhampton, they span every sector of commerce and industry and underline the strength and breadth of the local economy.

Express & Star Editor Keith Harrison said:

"It seems that every year the quality of applicants for these awards just keeps getting better. It has been a terrifically hard task to whittle down the scores of applicants to the shortlist of 36 we are announcing today.

"Indeed, it is a testament to the high quality of the companies vying for these awards that three of the categories have had to be expanded from three finalists to four. The panels of judges - from both the Express & Star and from our sponsors – face a difficult task trying to pick the winners.

"In a very real sense, all the companies that we name as finalists today are winners in their own right. Simply making the shortlist of finalists says an enormous amount about them and about the quality of our business sector.

"In challenging times they provide solid reasons for optimism about the economic future of this country."

Each of the finalists will now go through a gruelling judging process involving the event sponsors – Our warmest thanks go Aspray24, Carvers Building Supplies, Higgs & Sons, BDO, Jaguar Land Rover, City of Wolverhampton Council, UTC Aerospace Systems, ArchOver, Altodigital and the Black Country Chamber of Commerce The Platinum Group – before the winners are announced at the Express & Star Business Awards evening at Wolverhampton Racecourse on Thursday, June 8.